Sewing machine



Aug. 14, 1945; v J. ANN 2,381,977

SEWING MACHINE Fi1 ed'N0v l6, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 41 ATTORNEY J. MANN SEWING MACHINE Aug. 14, 1945.

Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheds-Sheet 5 A 5 O INVENTOR a? A ORNEY Patented Aug. 14, 1945 SEWING MACHINE Joseph Mann, Philadelphia, Pa., ass'iguor to Lewis Invisible Stitch Machine Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Maine Application November 16, 1940, Serial No. 365,908

Claims.

The invention herein disclosed relates to a sewing machine that is provided with a differential feed arrangement with which the machine may be utilized as a plain stitcher or foreffecting shining, and the invention comprehends an attachment with which the ordinary lock-stitch sewing machine may be readily and easily transformed into a machine having a differential feed for its usual purpose more particularly for effecting shining. p

In certain operations in the making of dresses, shirts and'other garments, shirring is necessary, for example, where the sleeve is sewn to the cuif, yoke to body, and in dresses where the waist is sewn to the skirt. Inthese and other like arrangements, one of the pieces of cloth to be sewn together is longer than the other. If the ends of two such pieces of cloth are to be even when the pieces are sewn together, the longer piece must be shirred.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sewing machine, of the kind utilized in the making of dresses, shirts and other garments, with feed mechanism that may be adjusted to effectuate shirring concomitantly with the stitching. Another object of the invention is to provide a differential feed mechanism that may be readily and easily attached to the ordinary-sewing machine and effect a shirring action. A further object of the invention is to provide such a differential feed mechanism that may be readily andeasily adjusted for varying amounts of shirring. Another object of the invention, is to provide a mechanism of this kind with which'the operator may render the mechanism effective and ineffecneedle head, the needle bar I and a presser foot Fig. 1 which is a side elevation of a sewing" machine including the differential feed mecha-' of the machine;

Fig. 3 which is a sectional elevation taken along the irregular line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 which is a transverse sectional elevation taken along the line l4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 which is a fragmentary end elevation; Fig. 6 which is a sectional plan of the presser foot taken along the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 which is a bottom plan of the presser foot taken along the line l--'| of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 which is a side elevation of a modified form of presserfoot;

Fig. 9 which is a bottom plan of the same; Fig. {0 which is an end elevation thereof;

Fig. 11 which is a plan of top-stitch work done on the machine; Fig. 12 whichis a section of the same taken along the line [2-12 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 13 which is an isometric of plain stitch work done on themachine.

The machine illustrated inthe drawings is" mounted in a frame that includes a bed I from ,Through the arm 3 there extends a main shaft 5. This shaft, in the usual manner, extends through the standard 2 and has mounted thereon the usual'hand wheel and pulley 6. From the bar 8 extend towards the base. The needle bar I carries the needle 9 and it is reciprocated in the usual manner and by the usual mechanism that' machine. The presser foot bar 8 is slidably mounted in the needle head and, in the usual manner, is resiliently urged downwardly towards the bed of the machine.

Mounted under the bed of the machine, adjacent the front of the machine relative of the direction of work passing through the machine, and joumaled in lugs, such as the lug l 0, extending from the base of the machine, there is a feed operating shaft II. This shaft is common to sewing machines of this type, such as the sewing machine known as the Singer Class -80" and it is oscillated through th usual connections with the main shaft of the sewing machine. Another feed operating shaft I2 is mounted below the bed of the machine at the rear of the machine and joumaled in lugs extending from the bed of the machine, such as the lug l3. This shaft is also a usual part of sewing machines of this type and it is oscillated through connecting mechanism with the main shaft of the sewing machine.

From the shaft I! there extends two radial arms. I4 and I5. Between these arms there extends a bracket it that ,is joumaled in the arms and has formed thereon a feed bracket I I that extends under the bed of the machine and transverse to the bed of the machine. The bracket I1 is provided with a bifurcated end piece I8 which receives a block is that is pivotally secured to the arm of a bracket 20 secured on the shaft ll. Intermediate the ends of the bracket I'I there is ofthe shafts l I and I2 in the manner well known inthe art and common in the sewing machines of the type referred to thefeed bar 2| is given a four motion movement. As observed in Fig. 5, by the conjointaction of the shafts H and I2 operating on the bracket H, the feed bar 2| moves to the left then downwardly, then forwardly to the right in the down position, then upwardly and then rearwardly to the left. On the rearward motion, the feeding action takes place. Ifhis action is, of course, related to the needle to effect feedliing movement while the needle is out of the wor On the feed bar 2|, there are mounted two sets of feed dogs, the 3-row feed dogs 22, and the 2-row feed dogs 23. For the purpose of distinguishing these feed dogs, the rear set 22 relative to the direction of movement of material through the machine may be termed the main in the feed bar 2|, slots 30 being provided in the bar 28 through which the screws 25 and 26 pass. This bar 28 extends rearwardly of the sewing machine and has formed on the rear end thereof a lug 3|. It will thus be seen that while the feed dogs 22 are constrained to move with the feed bar 2|, the feed dogs 23 may have relative movement with respect to the feed bar 2lin the line of feed of material through the ma.

chine. It is through this relative movement, which may be effected by the mechanism hereinafterdescribed, that shirring in various amounts and at the will ofv the operator may be effected.

The mechanism for effecting a differential feeding action of the feed dogs 22 and 23 is mounted .upon abracket that is secured to the under side of the bed of the' machine. This bracket includes an arm 32 secured to the bed of the machine and a depending arm 33 at the end of which there is a rearward extension 34. At the juncture between the depending arm 33 and. the rearward extension 34 a machine screw the bifurcated end of the link 4| embracin the slotted end of the lever 36. At the opposite end, the link 4| is pivotally mounted upon an eccentric pivot screw 42 that is secured in and extends from an arm 43 secured on and extending radially of the shaft l2 and forming a continuation of arm M. A spring 44 normally maintains the roller 39 at the lower end of the slot 38 inthe lever 36. 4

With the roller 39 in the lower end of the slot 38, and the machine set for a particular length stitch, the connection of the link 4| with the lever 36 is equi-distant from the pivotal axis of the lever 36 with the connection of the opposite actly the same as the feed dogs 22. The feed dogs 23 are, of course, reciprocated in the line of feed,- through the arm 43, the link 4| and the lever 36 but the extent of movement in the feeding direction will be exactly the same as the movement of the feed dog 22 when the roller 33 is at the lower end of the slot 38. By raising the roller 39, i. e. by moving the link 4| about its pivotal connection to the screw 42 to raise the roller 39 in the lever 36, the relation above-described is disturbed. When the link 4| is positioned so that the roller 39 is at the top of the slot in the lever 36, the connection between the link 4| and the lever 36 is close to the fulcrum point of the lever 36; In consequence, the same amount of movement of the screw 42 carrying the link 4| will cause a larger movement of the end of the lever 36 that is connected to the link 31 and in consequence a greater movement of the feed dogs 23. The effective part of this greater movement of the feed dogs 23 will be during the movement towards the rear of the machine while the feeding action is taking place.

For the purpose of positioning the link 4| to effectuate a differential movement of the auxiliary feed dogs 23, there is provided a lever 45 that is secured one. shaft 45 journaled in the rearward extension 34 of the bracket 33. The shaft 46 extends through the bracket and on theinner end thereof there is secured an arm 4? that extends radially of the shaft 46. To the end of this arm 41, there is plvotally secured one end of a link 48. The other end of the link is plvotally secured through a pivot screw 49 to the end of the link 4|, that carries the roller 39. Through this train of links, movement of the lever 45 effects movement of the link 4| to move the roller v39 in the slot 38 of the lever 36. The end of the lever 45 is provided with an opening 50' by means of which a chain may be attached to the lever and to a foot treadle (not shown) beneath the table upon which the machine is mounted. When the end of the against the action of the spring 44 to raise the roller 39in the slot 38. Thus, while themach'ine is operating, the operator may at anytime, by moving the lever 45 effectuate a differential action between the main and auxiliary feed dogs.

There is a manually adjustable arrangement for determining the amount of differential movement that will occur between the feed dogs 22 and 23 when the operator actuates the lever 45.'

The upper end or edge 5| of the lever 45 is shaped as shown and arranged to engage the end of a pin 52 that is slidably mounted in an arm 53 formed on the bracket 33. The upper end of this pin is in position to engage a helical stop 54 that is secured on a shaft 55 extending through and .loumaled in the bed of the machine. On the upper end of the shaft 55 there is formed integral with the shaft a finger piece and dial 56. This dial reads against an indicator mark 51 formed in the bed of the machine. By-rotating the dial 56, any point on the helix 54 may be brought into line with the end of the pin 52. Engagement of the pin 52 with the helix and engagement of the surface 5| of the lever 45 or the corner formed thereon with the pin determines the amount the link 4| is moved to raise the roller 39 in the slot end of the lever to the link 31. With this relademand with the shaft 52 equi-distant from the pivots 16 and 42, the feed dogs 23 will move exis a presses foot that is mounted upon the end of the presser foot bar 6. This presser foot includes the bracket 51 that is secured to the presser the bent-over edge of the plate 13 and the strip N foot bar U by a machine screw II. On the end of this bracket what may be termed a main presser foot 59 is pivotally mounted. This presser foot has a flat section 60 which engages the feed dogs 22 or presses the material against the feed dogs during the feeding action of the feed dogs and an up-tumed forward portion 6|. On the rear end of main presser foot and includes the plate 64,

slightly widerthan the main presser foot, and which has an upturned forward end forming'a lead-in for the cloth. The auxiliary presser foot is resiliently urged in a downward direction about its pivotal connection by a spring 64b. When the presser foot bar is lowered, the auxiliary presser foot extends over the set of auxiliary feed dogs With this machine, set up as above described, there is provided a folder. 'The particular folder illustrated includes a base 65 consisting of a flat.

rigid piece of metal having one comer thereof cut away at 66. Through the base 65 there is a slot 61. The slot 61, when the folder isplaced on the machine, overlies two tapped openings in the base I of the sewing machine, the line joining the centers of wh ch is parallel to the forward edge of the base. The distance between the tapped openings is lessthan the length of the slot. Extending through the slot and threaded into these openings there are two machine screws 68. .A's the slot is longer than the distance between the machine screws, the base may be adjusted towards'and away from the needle. The

through which there are a pair of parallel slots 10. Machine screws H extending through these is slightly flared at the operator end.

When the folder is in place and the foot described above is on the machine, as illustrated in the drawings, the operation known as top stitching may be performedon this machine. The effect of top stitching is illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings. In this operation, one piece of cloth" has the edge folded under as at 18 The other piece of cloth 19 extends under the folded edge and the needle and needle thread passes through the folded edge of the piece I1 and the piece 19. The needle thus penetrates three layers of cloth. The result is that stitches 80 appear on the piece 11 adjacent the folded edge. When this operation is being performed, the piece of cloth Tl passes under the arm of the machine and the end of the cloth passes around the folded over edge of the plate 13 and between ,the plate and the strip 16'. This folded over edge passes over the auxiliary presser foot and under the main presser foot. The piece of cloth 19 passes outside of the needle head and the end thereof extends beneath the folded end 18 of the piece 11 and the auxiliary presser foot and directly engages both sets of feed dogs. When material is sewn in this way, the folded over edge of the piece 11 does not pass between the auxiliary presser foot and theauxiliary feed dogs. Thus there is no feeding engagement between the folded end 18 and the auxiliary feed dogs. The under piece 19 is eng ed by the auxiliary feed dogs and is placed .into engagement therewith by the auxiliary presser foot.

'Inthe top stitch operation, above described, when it is desired to effect shirring, the lever is actuated as above described, to effect a differ- .ential action between the main and auxiliary feed dogs. When this occurs, the auxiliary feed slots and threaded into the base 85 secure the folder onto the base. At the end of the extension. there is an upright 12 which extends between the extension 69 and an inclined plate 13. The plate 13 inclines from the end of theuprig'ht 12 to the base i of the machine and at its lower end it is provided with a tongue extension 14. On one edge of this tongue extension, there is a depending lug 15 which is positioned to engage The edge ofthis-extension converges for a short distance towards the end edge of the plate 13. Between the extension 14' and'the edge of the plate at the upright 12, this edge of the plate is bent under, the resultingcurved edge 15"dive'rg ing towards the end ofthe plate connected with the upright. The extremeend 16 of this folded over portion is filled in and appears solid. Extending around the bent-over edge of the plate l3. and spaced therefrom, there is a strip ll.

The'leg of this stripwhich extends under the plate is foldedupon itself and is secured onto the under side of the-plate. The legs of' the strip converge in accordance with the convergence of dogs engaging the end section'of the cloth 19 puckers that piece of cloth and carries the puckered cloth to the needle. of the cloth I1 is not puckered and the effect lllustrated'in Figs. 11 and 12 is attained. In these figures, the piece of cloth I! is illustrated as having been shirred at 8| and 82. Spaced shirring in this wayis attained by actuating the lever 45 while the section represented by the numeral 8| is being shirred releasing the lever and again actuating the lever during the section 8i. Continued shirring can be effected. as illustrated at 82 by maintaining the lever 5| actuated.

needle. This ensures that the shir. will be positioned under the needle and sewn into place.

The plate 64 of the auxiliary presser foot is resilient and terminates adjacent the needle. The edge of the plateserves to retain the shir in position under the needleto which it is brought by the auxiliary feed dogs.

On sewing machines of the kind described, the effect of actuatingthe stitch adjustment is to rotate the 'shaft l2 with respect to its actuating mechanism and so vary the effective length of the .feeding movementof the feed dog's. When this is done, the lever 43 secured to the shaft 42, and, in consequence the'pivotscrew '42, is shifted accordingly. This disturbs the relation of the parts pf the'actuating mechanism for the auxiliary feed The end section As this is an eccentric pivot, the link and in 5 consequence the lever and the feed dogs 23 are shifted. When a change in the length 0! stitch is made, the machine is actuated by hand to the position in which the feed dogs are at the end of the feeding stroke. The pivot screw 42 is then.

rotated 50 that the feed dogs 23 are moved to a position in which the rear edge thereof is in line with the needle. The machine is now set for the new stitch length.

When it is desired to effect shirring conconii- 1 tantly with straight or plain stitching, stitching such as illustrated in Fig. 13, the presser foot illus-\ trated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 is used. This presser foot includes a bracket 83 that is secured to the end of the presser foot bar 3 by the screw 58 ex- 2 tending through the slot 88 in the bracket. To this bracket the presser foot is pivotally secured, the presser foot having an upstanding slotted end section as which receivesthe end of the bracket.

In advance of the needle opening 86 through the 25 presser foot, the presser foot has two, parallel inclined, lead-in extensions 87 and 88 joined at one edge by an integral end wall 89. These extensions are substantially wider, in the direction of the end wall 89 than the presser foot. To the under 39 side of the forward extension 88 there is secured a spring steel stripper plate 90 that engages the auxiliary feed dogs.

In plain, straight stitching the two pieces of cloth, are laid one upon the other. With the presser foot described above, the edge of one of the pieces of cloth, the top piece passes between the extensions 81 and 88, over the stripper plate 9t and under the main presser'foot. The other piece of cloth passes under the stripper plate so that it is engaged by the auxiliary feed dogs. Thus, upon a difference in-Ieedlng movement between the main and auxiliary feed dogs, shirrlng of the under piece will be effected.

From the foregoing description of the machine illustrated in the drawings, it will be seen that by by this invention there is provided an auxiliary mechanism that may be applied to theordinary plain stitch sewing machine. With this mechanism, a differential feed arrangement is provided by which shirring may be effected. Themechanlsm is such that the amount of shirringjmay be predetermined and shining can beeflected at the will of the operator. The machinretalns all of. the characteristics of a machine, and with the fold arrangement de-; scribed above, top stitching and shitting may be eilected simultaneous '4 It will be obvious that various changes maybe made by those skilled of the embodiments of the inventioi'i'illustrated 'in the drawings and described in detail, above within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machinci'f the combination comprising stitoh-fornung mechanism, means for operating the stitch-forming mechanism, feding mechanism for feeding the material operated upon past the stitch-forming mechanism lnclud- 70 plain stitch sewing in the art in the details ing two sets of relatively movable feed dogs,

means for effecting a difierence in the feeding movement of the feed dogs including a shijtable member, means for shifting the member, and control means therefore including an adjustable stop and a finger piece mounted on the bed of the machine for positioning the stop.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination comprising stitch-forming mechanism including a needle and a loop taker and feeding mechanism for-feeding the material operated upon past the needle including two setsof relatively movable feed dogs, common operating means for actuating the two sets of feed dogs in timed relation with respect to the stitch-forming mechanism, means for efiecting a difi'erence in the feeding movement in the direction of the feed of the sets of feed dogs, and means for adjusting one set of said feed dogs in accordance with changes in the feeding stroke or the other set of feed dogs.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination comprising ,stitch-forming mechanism including a needle and a loop taker and adjustable feeding mechanism for feeding the material operated upon past the needle including two sets of relatively movable feed dogs arranged in line in the directional feeding movement of the feed dogs, means for actuating the two sets of feed dogs in timed relation with respect to the stitch-forming mechanism, means for eflecting a difference in the feeding movement of the sets of feed dogs, and means for adjusting the forward set of feed dogsin accordance with changes in the feeding stroke of the rear set of feed dogs.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination comprising stitch-Iorming mechanism, two, spaced,

' parallel shafts, means for oscillating said shafts,

a feed bar between and extending transverse to said shafts, a connection between one end of said feed bar and one of said shafts arranged to effect a rise and fall of the feed bar, a connection between the other end 0! the reed bar and the other shaft arranged to effect longitudinal reciprocation of the feed bar, reed dogs carried by said feed bar for feeding material past the stitch- !orming mechanism, an auxiliary feed her slidably mounted on said first mentioned feed bar and arranged to partake of the rise and fall thereof, teed dogs carried by said auxiliary feed bar, and a drive connectionbetween said auxiliary feed bar andthe oscillating shaft for efiecting longitudinal reciprocation of the auxiliary teed bar-including means for varying the longitudinal reciprocation of said auxiliary feed bar independently 01' said first mentioned feed bar.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination comprising stitch-form'ing mechanism, means for operating the stitch-forming mechanism, feeding mechanism for feeding the material operated upon past the stitch-forming mechanism including two sets of relatively movable feed dogs, means for effecting a difference in the feeding movement of the iced dogs, control means for said last mentioned means including a control lever, and means for adjustably limiting the movement of said control lever including an adjustable abutment in the path or said control lever, and a finger piece mounted on the bed of the machine and arranged to control said abutment.

JOSEPH MANN. 

